Dawn King's gripping and unsettling play Foxfinder has been shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize’s inaugural drama award.

A darkly comic exploration of belief, desire and responsibility, Foxfinder centres on William Bloor, a religious but conflicted young ‘foxfinder’ who is sent to Sam and Judith Covey's farm in a strange but familiar England to investigate a suspected contamination. As his enquiries develop, William begins to question his own deeply-held truths, sparking a series of events that will change the course of all their lives - for ever.

Foxfinder was winner of the 2011 Papatango New Writing Competition in partnership with the Finborough Theatre, and premiered at the Finborough, London, in December 2011 to critical acclaim, with Guardian critic Michael Billington declaring it ‘the most compelling new work I have seen this year’. Foxfinder earned Dawn King the Most Promising Playwright prize at the 2012 Off-West End Awards.

Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Prizes are Britain’s oldest literary awards. Newly established for 2013, the Prizes’ drama award seeks to recognise ‘a play which displays an original voice in theatre and one that…has made a significant and unique contribution to the art form.’

The other works shortlisted for the award are The Effect by Lucy Prebble, In Water I’m Weightless by Kaite O’Reilly, The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning by Tim Price, and The Hundred Flowers Project by Christopher Chen.

The first winner of the £10,000 annual award will be announced in August 2013.